Real Friends

In Real Friends, acclaimed author Shannon Hale and talented illustrator LeUyen Pham collaborate to create an engaging graphic memoir that explores the complexities of friendship during childhood. The story follows Shannon, who has always shared a close bond with her best friend Adrienne, but their friendship faces a significant challenge when Adrienne begins to spend time with the popular Jen and her exclusive group, known simply as The Group. Shannon's journey is filled with emotional highs and lows as she navigates the ups and downs of this shifting dynamic. She grapples with feelings of insecurity and exclusion, questioning whether she will remain friends with Adrienne or if she is destined to be left out of the social circle dominated by bullying and competition for popularity. Real Friends is a heartfelt exploration of the formative years of friendships, highlighting the struggle to stand up for oneself and find genuine connections. With relatable themes and humorous illustrations, this graphic novel serves as a perfect conversation starter for discussing feelings of belonging and self-worth. It's an uplifting and insightful read that resonates with both children and adults, making it an essential addition to the libraries of fans of contemporary children's literature and graphic novels.

excellent

Great graphics- my girls like

The bad reviews for this book originally had me hesitating but it was on a book club list at my daughter's school so I pre-read in case there was any parts that needed to be discussed. I first want to address the religious elements of this this book. The character and her family are Christians but no other character seems to be except one reference about a friend knowing another friend from church. The character turns to God when she is struggling as any family of faith would do. It isn't central to the story and it is not evangelizing in any way. It is disappointing to see so many reviews upset about this. On my daughter's book list is a book about a Muslim girl, a book about an immigrant boy fleeing gang violence, a book about a trans boy, a book about a deaf girl, a book about an atheist, a book about a girl with a mom who is a lesbian...I went and looked at reviews for all of these other books and nobody was at all offended by any of these books. Christian people exist in our kids' schools and they deserve to not be discriminated against. The lack of tolerance for this character's faith is shocking. This story is about a lonely girl who is trying to navigate the often confusing world of girl friendship culture. Much of what is happening in this girl's friend group I see happen often in the schools I have worked in. Shannon tries to maintain who she is at her core while not succumbing to the poor behavior of this group. She eventually removes herself at a great cost as she is left with no friends. She then goes on to make friends with some girls who are friendly to everyone and Shannon decides she too wants to be this type of friend to people as well. Some people are saying the main girl who was a bully should have made up with and become friends with Shannon. That is not reality. That is not what happens. Why should we teach our girls to not hold boundaries with girls who repeatedly abuse them? Shannon's response to not let Jenny back in is exactly what Shannon should have done. She held a boundary for herself to not be treated like garbage and open herself up to more attacks. This was autobiographical and a powerful book handled well. The only part that made me truly cringe was the relationship with her abusive older sister and her mom's hands off reaction to it. My daughter and I talked after we both read it about how wrong it was that she was not protected by her mother. Overall I think the subject matter was handled quite well.

Shannon Hale is one of my favorite authors. I've read most of what she's written. I was definitely intrigued when I heard about this graphic novel based on her own childhood memories. It's not entirely memoir as Shannon herself explains in the back of the book. After all, human memory is certainly fallible and no two people experience the same situation in exactly the same way. Plus, she's changed a lot of names. But it's clear that the emotion behind the story is real. It certainly felt real to me, maybe because I could relate to some of the struggles that young Shannon has making, keeping, and losing friendships. Friendship can be a tricky thing, especially when clicks get involved as they so often do in elementary/middle school. When Shannon's dear friend, Adrienne, becomes part of "The Group", she tags along, hoping that she isn't going to lose her one and only friend. And she doesn't, not exactly, but she's not fully welcomed into "The Group" either. As Shannon's relationships with her friends fluctuate, she struggles with the unkindness that occurs as well as her own anxieties and frequent illnesses. In addition to her confusion about her friends, she struggles to get along with her older sister, Wendy. Shannon's dream of being a writer slowly develops as she works hard to figure out how to handle her relationship difficulties. LeUyen Pham does a phenomenal job illustrating Shannon's experiences. Not only does each person shine through in personality and appearance but Pham uses her own imagination to show the imaginative play that Shannon so enjoyed with her friends (I loved how Shannon always imagined her self as a strong female superhero of sorts, this so reminded me of the games I loved to play as a kid). In addition, demonstrating in a sometimes amusing, but often sad way the challenging relationship that Shannon had with her sister, Wendy is sometimes depicted as a giant, rather intimidating bear. This is a book that is bound to be loved just like Rain Telgemeier's Smile and Sisters, simply because young readers will be able to relate to it so well.

it was a really good book. it had twists and turns, friendships and heartbreaks. i loved it! i might buy this book in real life.

Kissing pictures and not suitable for kids

Mia figlia lo ha letteralmente divorato. Il libro è stato uno spunto per parlare dell’amicizia e della lealtà.

My children love to read them before the bed time over and over again. Vivid stories to them and very attractive. High quality books. Good for kids to learn how to deal with different situations in real life.

Una historia de empoderamiento para las niñas

中古で他にも沢山本を買ってますが、ここまでひどいのは初めて。 表紙が折れ曲がっておりはっきり折れ目がある…ここまでは許せてもお茶のシミが表紙に。 アルコール綿で拭き取りましたが、汚すぎる。